News

Can you change a Will after death?14/02/2018One might expect that the answer to this question would be a definitive no. However, under certain circumstances a will can actually be changed after death. This is done by using what is known as a Deed of Variation. Any changes to the will must be done within two years from the date of death. However, beneficiaries who would be left Read more...

What to do if you have stopped work14/02/2018HMRC issues some helpful guidance that covers what you need to do if you stopped work. The guidance covers the main reasons that you might have stopped work such as being made redundant or leaving your job.
If you have been made redundant then you may have overpaid tax as a result of your redundancy payment. HMRC may in some cases refund Read more...

Appealing to a tax tribunal14/02/2018There are a number of different options open to taxpayers that disagree with a tax decision issued by HMRC. The first step is to make an appeal to HMRC against the tax decision. If taxpayers do not agree with HMRC’s appeals review, there are further options available which include making an appeal to a tax tribunal or using the Read more...

Does a charity pay tax?14/02/2018The tax treatment of charities can be very complex. As a first step any charity hoping to benefit from any beneficial treatment needs to be recognised as a charity for UK tax purposes by HMRC as well as meeting other criteria.
A recognised charity may qualify for a number of tax exemptions and reliefs on income and gains, and on profits Read more...

Pay and paternity leave14/02/2018When your partner gives birth or when you adopt a child or have a baby by surrogate, you may be entitled to 1 or 2 weeks paternity leave and paternity pay. You are also entitled to take a small amount of unpaid time off work before the baby is born to accompany your partner (or the surrogate mother) to 2 antenatal (or adoption) Read more...

How to get proof of employment history14/02/2018A special employment history request can be submitted by taxpayers for those needing to make a claim for compensation. The form is usually used for claims relating to industrial injuries, road traffic accidents, medical negligence and hardship.
HMRC will only accept requests that are made using the Employment history team: claimant’s Read more...

Tax-Free Childcare available now14/02/2018The Tax-Free Childcare Scheme (TFCS) was launched in April 2017 to the first tranche of working parents. The scheme was initially made available to working parents of children aged under 4 on 31 August 2017. On 15 January 2018, the scheme was extended to parents whose youngest child is under 9. The scheme was opened to all remaining Read more...

Draft regulations to increase the national minimum wage published12/02/2018The draft National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2018 have been laid before Parliament and are due to come into force on 1 April 2018. The regulations will increase the various rates of the national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW) as follows:
the NLW rate for workers aged 25 and over will rise from £7.50 to Read more...

10.7m tax payers filed before the deadline07/02/2018HMRC has issued a press release detailing the number of online filings made for the 2016-17 self assessment returns. The use of the online service continues to grow year on year. In this year a total of over 9.9 million online filings were made by the 31 January 2018 deadline. A further 770,000 tax returns were submitted using paper Read more...

Income from selling services online07/02/2018Many taxpayers supplement their income by selling services online. This is often known as the 'sharing economy' or the 'peer-to-peer economy' and usually involves taxpayers renting out something they are not using such as their house (using websites such as AirBNB), car, car parking space or other personal equipment.
It can also involve Read more...